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Rest of the weeks films

The Station Agent15, 90 mins Once in a while, you come across a film that suddenly bursts into your life like a great pop record you hear on the radio — two minutes in and you know you’re going to love it. That’s how I felt about the writer/director Tom McCarthy’s wonderful debut feature film, The Station Agent. You won’t find a film currently on release that has as much charm and such beautifully drawn characters as this. It’s about an antisocial dwarf called Finbar and his reluctant friendship with a manic hot-dog salesman called Joe and a depressed middle-aged artist called Olivia. I know how that must sound — a quirky, count-on-me, big-spirit-little-guy saga/a kind of hip Friends for the Sundance set. But believe me, this is a remarkable film that is fresh and funny. Finbar McBride (Peter Dinklage) is not the kind of dwarf you usually find in films.